After failing to get any financial support from Russia or Iran, Syria’s ministry of electricity has issued tenders to build and repair power turbines in Aleppo hoping that bidding companies accept cumbersome payment terms.

JE: I have done this work of leading the Humanitarian Task Force for nearly three years, there has been too many setbacks, we have failed more often than we have achieved what we wanted, but there have been also some positive developments and we have two now that I would like to mention:

A joint report by the FAO and the World Food Program has highlighted the dramatic situation of the Syrian agricultural sector, including the worst wheat harvest in three decades, although the return of security has ensured a relative stabilization in some sub-sectors.

The American and British aid agencies have asked aid agencies to stop using the border crossing between Turkey and the Idlib area for fear that taxes on trucks transporting aid were partly used by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Reuters reported.

The main highlights of the 60th edition of the Damascus International Trade Fair, which was held last month, included a relatively large Russian presence, a very limited one by Chinese companies and the absence of announcements of major business deals.